Most onlookers would agree: The damage caused so far by the Paseo del Mar landslide in San Pedro has disaster written all over it.

Chunks of what was once a scenic highway lie scattered and teetering along the collapsing cliff. More could fall as winter storms move through the coastal area.

And while no homes are currently threatened, the cleanup and recovery process – including the possibility of someday rerouting and rebuilding the well-traveled road – will surely cost millions of dollars.

U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, said Monday she would ask Gov. Jerry Brown to declare the landslide an official disaster or emergency in hopes of tapping into state and federal funding. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also signed a letter asking Brown for a “declaration of emergency.” Assembly members Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who represents the area, and Warren Furutani also wrote a letter to the governor requesting assistance.

“We urge you to move in the most expeditious way possible toward making the appropriate declaration of emergency for the ongoing earth movement that has shorn a portion of the coastal road Paseo del Mar in San Pedro,” the Nov. 21 letter read.

But at a news conference this week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the landslide – so far, anyway – does not yet qualify for such status.

“At this time, working in conjunction with Los Angeles County and the city attorney, we do not have the conditions to declare an emergency,” Villaraigosa said during remarks made at the landslide site on Tuesday.

“I’ve done it in the past and when we have those conditions, believe me, I’m very aggressive in making those declarations. But they have to be based on a subset of conditions that don’t currently exist.”

Until a study is completed by the geotechnical firm of Shannon & Wilson Inc., little may be known about the potential costs involved in repairs.

Even if the situation would not currently qualify for state emergency funding, county Supervisor Don Knabe said it is important to initiate the requests now rather than reacting later.

“What I wanted to do is put things in place,” said Knabe, who initiated the county motion.

Work is set to begin as early as Friday by geotechnical crews who will begin setting up soil borings to determine how far the slide area extends.

While a finished report won’t be ready for six months, updates on their findings should be available in a few weeks.

“Once the geotechnical report is issued, we’ll have a permanent action plan,” Villaraigosa said at Tuesday’s news conference. “We will put no plan together without community input or without community participation.”

Several soil monitoring stations will be installed at the White Point Nature Preserve, where the southern trail – running parallel to Paseo del Mar – will be closed on rainy days as a precaution.

A section of the preserve in the southeast portion of the park remains fenced off after large cracks were found there.

A major future concern for the preserve, city park property that is managed by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, will be discussions of whether or not to rebuild the road to the north, where it would encroach on the 102-acre nature park.

Any discussion about whether the collapsed section of Paseo del Mar should or can be rerouted and rebuilt is still premature, officials say.

“I was awestruck by the severity of it,” said conservancy Executive Director Andrea Vona after seeing the damage left from Sunday’s big slide.

“Three weeks ago I was out there and there were small cracks,” Knabe said. “Eight days later, they were bigger and wider, about 18 inches of separation. The next time it was like 5 feet.”

On Sunday afternoon, an estimated 600 square feet of street and dirt collapsed during a daylong rain.

“It was pretty amazing,” Knabe said of the sight afterward. “When I went out to the end, I was on my heels.”

Donna Littlejohn has covered the Harbor Area as a reporter since 1981. Along with development, politics, coyotes, battleships and crime, she writes features that have spotlighted an array of topics, from an alligator on the loose in a city park to the modern-day cowboys who own the trails on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. She loves border collies and Aussie dogs, cats, early California Craftsman architecture and most surviving old stuff. She imagines the 1970s redevelopment sweep that leveled so much of San Pedro's historic waterfront district as very sad.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.